Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History INSIDE THE BIRD HOUSE

Whats been puzzling me about this date stone is, why would the stone mason or whoever carved the stone make life difficult for himself and do the ones (1) as he did, I've been trying to find 17th century examples, not much success, though i did find 17th century lettering for tombstones and a bible box carved 1689. notice the 6 and 9 are the same, the one (1) would be considerably easier to do.

Keep up the good work,i'm sure someone's going to solve this puzzle.

we need to find the stone mason!! haha
oh im enjoying this! i didnt think of checking the way things were wrote in that era, and he did make things hard for himself as he couldnt match them (1s) perfectly which is how all this began ha
ooo keep it up your doing a great job

Bird's House is just lovely and I am so pleased someone has come along to lovingly restore it.
William Bird was a ancestor of myself and after spending many years of research I must add that there is no record of anyone by the name of Mary in the family until much later. I believe William's wife was Margarete or Margaret who was from Lowton. Married in 1616,her maiden name being Mather and the sister of Richard Mather who later ministered at the little Chapel of Toxteth in Liverpool. He then became a Puritan and sailed to America as one of the first settlers.There appears to be no record of what happened to Margarete but a William Bird from Wallasey was married in 1624 and his first daughter was also called Margaret, this I believe would add to the proof.He also became the Parish Clerk(or similar) at St.Hilary's and lost many of his family in the plague of the 1600's.Hope this is of interest.

Wow Granny,so it could be 1621,or 1627,somewhere near times of marriages.
Great info thanks for posting.

I believe it to be 1621, but have no proof. The date stone of the barn could have been 1704 as there was a Mary in the family at that time. I don't think any of us can be 100% sure but it keeps our interest and brain ticking.

Its a shame,that there's very few records available for the 1600's.
Did you find the marriages in church records?

william and mary married in 1682 so your william and margaret may have been the generation before them.i also found another william bird connected to the house thats from the next generation.
our william bird was a church warden at st hilarys in 1658.

Would love to see these records where are they available,chester record office,parish records??

Yes. William Bird and Margaret Mather marriage offers no other information apart from date.The marriage of William Bird to Alice Sherlock in 1628(sorry not 1624) and his family's christenings are all listed in St.Hilary's parish register.

all the info iv found pp has been on line and iv not paid for any

Rocks, Were they in free parish records on line?
I would like to see the records for myself,so i think a trip to chester is needed.

Congrats Granny on getting that far back on your ancestors,i've hit a brick wall in the 1700's.

I have actually given you the bare bones. There was a big family of Bird's in the area going back further and to put them all into boxes was long and hard.I must say that some of the family history search sites are not too brilliant.e.g Family Search.org is not the best place for accurate information. Also one must remember that many records have not yet been released for Wirral and other places. The connections and history between different families is fascinating such as the Bird's and the Sherlock's at such times. Chester I think would be a good idea.Take a big pad and pen with you.A book of invaluable history of the area is Rise and Progress of Wallasey. Should find it in your library. Gives much detailed information about life an events.Personally I find much more from books than internet.

i found it confusing finding what i did but it looks like i found the same as marty, i cant remember were i found it all i think some was in "roots"? and i looked at some kind of church records and a petition thing he signed to do with the church and also land registry (rings a bell) i honestly cant remember i just sat here on afternoon and searched

Just a thought - if I remember rightly, they don't allow pens in the record office, only pencils? Take both to avoid disappointment!